Death Fasting Grup Yorum Member: I Want to Live and Play Guitar

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul MP Turan Aydoğan and İzmir MP Mahir Polat visited Silivri Prison on January 17.

The MPs met Grup Yorum music band member İbrahim Gökçek, businessperson Osman Kavala and lawyer Selçuk Kozağaçlı in prison.

On a hunger strike for 216 days now, Grup Yorum member Gökçek has been on a death fast since January 3.

Speaking to bianet after their visit, CHP MPs have especially raised concerns over the condition of İbrahim Gökçek.

Turan Aydoğan, who is also a member of the Parliamentary Commission on Justice, has emphasized that injustice is becoming more and more prevalent in prisons and added the following:

"We, as the Members of Parliament, are obligated to monitor the increasing incidences of injustice in prisons in the name of the public. People are held behind bars for months without an indictment. Long periods of arrest is a problem of the judicial system in itself. Long periods of arrest need to end immediately and a new way has to be paved for trial without arrest.

"We visited Osman Kavala, Selçuk Kozağaçlı and İbrahim Gökçek, who are the victims of the problems that I talk about.

'He risks death to perform his art freely'

"İbrahim Gökçek now weighs 40-45 kilograms, he has lost a lot of weight. 'I want to perform my art. I risk death so long as they keep hindering my art. I was taken from the cultural center. I had already going and coming from abroad. If I had a suspicion of escape, I had not returned from the places where I went. My imprisonment is a blow to my art', says İbrahim Gökçek.

"İbrahim Gökçek risks death to perform his art freely. You cannot be of the same opinion with everyone, but the right to life is sacred.

"So, everyone everyone should be worried for İbrahim Gökçek even though they do not hold the same opinions with him.

'Arts of artists should not be prevented'

"Expressing concerns over his case to be heard by the Court of Cassation, Selçuk Kozağaçlı said that he still wanted to believe in the judiciary. He also mentioned death fasts. He indicated that the arts of artists should not be prevented and if there would be a trial, it could be done without arrest.

'The trial of Kavala should be followed closely'

"As for Osman Kavala, he talked about the failure of the local court to implement the ruling of rights violation given for him by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Kavala, as a businessperson, could have said 'I already live on the fat of the land' and sitten in his corner. But, he didn't do it. He expressed his objections for a free world and he has been arrested for that reason. This injustice still prevails despite the EctHR verdict.

"The trial of Osman Kavala is a trial that needs to be closely followed by the public of Turkey. Despite the law being violated, Osman Kavala is still not hopeless, he is in really good spirits."

Polat: Artists should take initiative for Grup Yorum

İzmir MP Mahir Polat has also shared the following information:

"İbrahim Gökçek holds on to life with some part of him, but he walks towards death with another part. He was arrested in early 2019 and there is still no indictment. He is face to face with such injustice. He has gone on a death fast against this injustice, but he has not given up on life. He told us that he composed and wrote theater plays. He said that he wanted to play guitar.

'I am whatever Pir Sultan Abdal was'

"He says, 'I am whatever Pir Sultan Abdal was. Our demands are the following: Don't raid İdil Cultural Center, don't prevent Yorum concerts, and drop the lawsuits against us."

"The right to life is sacred. If people will be put on trial, it needs to be done fairly and within legal boundaries.

'What is done to Kavala is vendetta'

"Osman Kavala is in good health and spirits. He expects that the court abide by the ECtHR ruling and rule for his release. He said that he spent his time reading and writing. We talked about Turkey and the world.

"It needs to be underlined: Osman Kavala is one of the bright people of this country, what is done to him is a vendetta.

Kozağaçlı made a call for Grup Yorum

"Selçuk Kozağaçlı did not really prefer to talk about his own situation. The hunger strike of Grup Yorum members were on his agenda. He indicated that the demands of Grup Yorum members could be satisfied.

"He made a call for sensibility and shared a note to be shared with the public: "The part of us that aches the most becomes our part that we talk about the most. Yorum is on hunger strike." (RT/SD)